Today’s Motto: ‘Your biggest opportunity lies under your own feet’
As Every Day makes a new beginning in life, it brings new opportunities, opens new avenues, to perform and make a mark, to write a Page in History Book.
This is Your Day-TODAY: Take a Determined Step Forward and Make History!
On this day, 17 May….
1540 – The Battle of Kannauj (in UP) was fought between Sher Shah Suri and Humayun. It is 
also known as the Battle of Bilgram. Sher Shah Suri defeated Humayun, leading to Humayun’s temporary loss of the Mughal throne.
1839 – A water wheel was patented by Lorenzo Adkins.
1498 – Admiral Dom Vasco-da-Gama, Portuguese navigator, arrived in India. He sailed around the C
ape of Good Hope to Calicut, Kerala with three vessels and was the first Westerner to sail to India from Europe. (17 or 20 May?).
1861 – Thomas Sutton, under the guidance of James Clerk Maxwell, capture
d the first color photograph, a tartan ribbon.
1890 – Comic Cuts, the first British weekly comic paper, was published in London by Alfred Northcliffe.
1949 – India decided with only one dissent vote to remain within the Commonwealth of Nations.
1980 
– V. S. Kumar Anandan sets record of balancing on one foot for continuous 33 hrs.
1993 – Visiting Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres signs an MOU with his Indian counterpart to end nearly 4 decades of inactivity in bilateral relation.
2014 – The center-right Hindu Nationalist Party, the BJP, led by Narendra Modi wins a landslide general election victory.
2021- Long working hours killed 745,000 people a year, in 2016, in the first study of its kind by the World Health Organization.
2023 – Nepali Sherpa Kami Rita Sherpa (53) climbs of Mt. Everest for a record 27th time.
Born…. 1945 – B. S. Chandrasekhar,( Bhagwat S. Chandrasekhar), cricketer and leg spinner, is considered as one of the best spin bowlers in the world. He had a lethal bowling action, despite his polio-affected right arm. His 6 for 38 at The Oval in 1971 gave India theirfirst Series Victory in England and he was instrumental in India’s first win in Australia in 1978, taking 12 for 104. He took 242 wickets in 58 Test matches. Was conferred Padamshri, listed in Wisdon Cricker of the Year and CK Nayudu award (pic credit-photoscelebrities.com).
1951 – Pankaj Udhas, an Indian ghazal and playback singer known for his works in Hindi cinema, Bhajans, Ghazals and Indian pop. He released over 50 albums on Ghazal and pop, He was honoured with many awards worldwide and Citizenship of Lubbock City, in Texas, was awarded Padma Bhushan in 2025. (video credit-Goldmines-Gaane Sune Unsune),
RIP…. 2
009 – Prakash Mehra, film director, and producer known for his blockbuster Hindi films like Zanzeer, Sharabi, Namk Halal, Bal Brahachari, Hasina Maan Jayegi etc. . He was one of the pioneers of masala films. He produced many box office blockbusters and classics, due to which Mehra was considered among the ‘Golden Directors’ of his time. Won Filmfare awards and nominations (pic credit-Wikipedia).
2014 – C. P. Krishnan Nair, businessman, founded The Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts. He was awarded Padma Bhushan in 2010.
Titbits….1980 – VS. Kumar Anandan sets record of balancing on one foot for continuous 33 hrs.
You may h
ave known…. 1. Two major religions, Buddhism and Jainism, were established in India. 2. An estimated one million dogs in the US have been named the primary beneficiary of their Owners’ Will (pic credit-animalia-life-club).
{Compiled by Lt. Gen. (R) Raj Kadyan}
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